


And A Rose For You

by blackinkedbs



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackinkedbs/pseuds/blackinkedbs
Summary: When invited to your best friend's dance recital, it's rude to show up empty-handed, right?(tw// minor mention of death in gladiolus section)
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	And A Rose For You

For the few years Ricky Bowen had known Gina Porter, they had spent a lot of time together. Though in that time, Gina had never mentioned anything about having a dance recital. He knew Gina ate, breathed, and lived dance, but never expected her to walk up to him with her recital tickets in hand at school that day.

“Boo!” she said startling Ricky. Gina knew he was not a morning person and that is the exact reason she decided to scare him at his locker so early in the morning,

“Why would you do that?” Ricky said this even though he knew exactly why: Gina loved to mess with him. He didn’t mind it all, in fact, he didn’t even know what he’d do without it,

“I have something for you,” she gave him a radiant smile. That was one of his favorite things about her. He would do anything to make sure it stayed on her face,

“You want me to guess, don’t you?” she nodded at his question,

“Coffee? For your poor sleep deprived best friend?” she laughed at his response, almost in a mockingly,

“Something much better than that,” she took out a single ticket and placed it in his hands. She looked up at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He didn’t know what it was for at first, originally thinking it was a movie ticket, but to his surprise, it was for a dance recital,

“So after almost three years of knowing you, you finally decided to invite me to your dance show,”

“Recital” she said as she punched him on the shoulder. He rubbed his shoulder jokingly as she looked at him expectantly, waiting for another reaction,

“I can’t wait to see you do your dance thing” 

“I literally force you to come to the studio with me all the time”

“Yeah, but this time you’re going to be wearing the fancy makeup with the fancy costume,” Ricky expected Gina to punch him on the shoulder, but instead she laughed, with a bright smile stretching across her face. 

Ricky might not have been the best when it came to remembering things, but he made it a priority to remember Gina’s dance recital. He kept the ticket by him at all times making sure to never lose or harm it. Just seeing Gina’s face that morning made him realize how important it was to her. He’d watch her dance all the time, but to her, this time seemed to matter more to her. So to him, it mattered more too.

He’d never been to a dance recital. In fact, before Gina, he never cared about dance at all. All he did know was that he didn’t want to disappoint her. So nights before her dance recital, he spent hours looking up proper dance recital etiquette. He ended up deciding what to wear, how to act, and how early to show up. But what he didn’t quite understand yet was what to get her. He saw videos on the internet of people giving their favorite dancers a bouquet of flowers after their performances. The issue was that each dancer was given a different bouquet of flowers. Ricky knew he couldn’t afford to mess this up. For a person like Gina, he knew he’d have to begin a long search to find the perfect flower for her.

**Orchid**

**…**

**Admiration and Innocence**

In sophomore year, Ricky was not known as a model student even if his grades weren’t the worst. He paid attention enough in class to get the grades he had, but not enough for his father’s liking. Most of Ricky’s attention was dedicated to the drama club. Originally, he joined because his now ex-girlfriend, Nini had joined, but it later became something that he did for himself. Ricky’s dad thought the drama club wasn’t enough of a credential to stand out on a college application, so he forced Ricky to participate in a student leaders club. 

Though Ricky didn’t want to join this club, he knew he had to for his father’s sake. Especially since at the time, his father had just filed the divorce papers with his mom. One of the responsibilities of student leaders was to welcome transfer students to East High. In the middle of his sophomore year, he was asked to help a freshman named Gina Porter navigate her schedule. 

“Hi, I’m Ricky Bowen and I’m supposed to be helping you out today,” he smiled holding out his hand for her to shake it. She looked down at his hand and instead of shaking it, gave him a cold glare,

“Here’s my schedule,” she said as she shoved the schedule in his hands. Ricky knew, or least thought he knew, it would be a long day,

“I heard you’re a freshman, right?” she nodded at his question,

“You must be one hell of a freshman,” 

“Why do you say that?” 

“You’re taking almost all of the classes I’m taking… as a sophomore,” he laughed and to his surprise, she laughed too,

“Maybe I’ll see you in one of my classes then,” she looked up at him with a bright smile that made his heart flutter,

“Actually you will. According to your schedule, we have third period AP U.S. History together,”

“At least I’ll know someone in that class,”

“Your guaranteed friend” her cheeks filled with a shade of red when he said that. 

By the time third period history arrived, Gina and Ricky were able to call each other friends. From this day on, they continued to be friends, growing closer and closer each day. Ricky soon after they met, convinced Gina to join the drama club after hearing about her love for music and most notably, dancing. Gina would help Ricky with not only his history homework but the choreography they were asked to do for the drama club. Ricky always  **admired** how good she was at any and everything she did—he almost couldn’t believe it. One Friday morning, as thanks for being her friend, she baked him cupcakes. Ricky appreciated the  **innocent** gesture coming from her of all people.

To Ricky, the orchid didn’t capture Gina’s image fully, so the search for the perfect flower had to continue.

**Sunflower**

**…**

**Loyalty and Adoration**

Ricky was afraid that after sophomore year, Gina and him would slowly lose touch and start to drift apart. He knew the drama club would keep them together in a sense, because the group was so tightly knit, but he wanted to keep growing his friendship with her specifically. That year, on the last day, Gina walked up to his locker,

“Are you excited to finally be done with AP U.S. History?” she said practically beaming. Though he despised history, he enjoyed the time he spent with Gina because of it. He’d take one hundred more history tests if it meant he would get to spend more time with her,

“I guess,” he said walking away from his locker with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes,

“What’s wrong? Does Ricky actually enjoy history class?” she looked at him trying to look for an answer that hid behind his words,

“No. I am glad to be done with that class,” Gina kept following him, noticing he was walking quicker and quicker by the second,

“If it’s not that, then what is it?” he tried to ignore her but she wouldn’t let him,

“Please talk to me” he stopped in his tracks when he heard her say that. He knew in that moment, it would be stupid of him to push her away when he wanted to do just the opposite,

“What if we lose touch or drift apart? What if you never want to talk to me again? What if we become strangers who only know each other through drama club?” he rambled on and on, asking question after question until Gina shut him up by laughing at him—loudly,

“What’s so funny about that?” he started to get angry before Gina shut him up, again,

“Who said we’d ever stop talking? You’re stuck with me forever, Bowen,” she gave him a reassuring pat on the back,

“Although if you are so worried about us losing touch, I have a proposition,” she added,

“And what is that?”

“Every Saturday Night, let’s watch a movie at my place,”

“So a weekly movie night?”

“You got it, Bowen,” 

Their Saturday movie nights continued not only throughout the summer, but the school year as well. Each time, they would alternate picking movies while Gina would bake a different sweet each week. Out of the many things in Ricky’s life, this was the one thing that stayed consistent. How lucky was he to have such a  **loyal** best friend?

“This time we’re watching Up,” she recommended on the last movie night of the summer, 

“Why that movie?”

“Because it’s a cute movie and it makes me cry every time. I’m a sap, sue me!” they both laughed,

“You’re  **adorable** , Porter,” 

The sunflower would’ve been a perfect flower for Gina, but unfortunately, she was allergic to them. 

**Gladiolus**

**…**

**Strength**

On the last Tuesday before winter break of his junior year, Ricky noticed Gina had not shown up to school. He knew his best friend very well. He knew how abnormal it was for her to not show up to school. Most importantly, he knew what day it was and what this day meant to her.

After school that day, he showed up at her doorstep with all the schoolwork she missed in hand. He tried to write out notes for her, but he ended up typing them out due to his messy handwriting,

“Oh, hi Ricky,” she said as she answered the door. Her voice was quiet and sounded like she just finished crying. Her red eyes gave it away. Ricky dropped the items in his hands and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She hugged him back as she rested her face on his shoulder as more tears began to pour out her eyes,

“Today has been really hard,” she mumbled,

“I know,” he held her tighter making sure she knew he was there for her. Today was the fifth anniversary of Gina’s father’s death. She didn’t like to talk about her father often because thinking about him hurt too much. She loved her father and not seeing him every day was painful . Ricky and Gina talked about this before, but he knew it was a subject that should not be brought up often.

“So you decided to type my notes?” she asked as she pulled away from their hug,

“You always say you can never read my handwriting,” she laughed at his response,

“Thank you for this. I know how much you hate physics,” 

“I do hate physics. But I hate you a little less,” she punched him on the shoulder. 

They spent the rest of the day on her couch with Gina’s head resting on his shoulder. He listened while she spoke about all the great memories she had with her father. How each year while it was getting easier to live without him, it got all the much harder.

“I wish I could say something to make all your pain go away,”

“I just wish he were here,”

“I know. I guess in a way, he’s here with you in your heart,”

“That is so cliche, Bowen. Thank you though,” she looked at him to smile,

“Do you realize how  **strong** you are?” he blurted,

“I never really feel like I am,”

“Well you are. You deal with everything so seemingly effortlessly with that bright smile always on your face. If you didn’t know it before, I’m letting you know now because you deserve to,” her cheeks blushed at his comment. 

If only Gladiolus flowers had been available at a store near him because if they were, it would’ve been the perfect flower for her. 

**Lilac**

**...**

**Tranquility and Passion**

Ricky, on the last day of summer before his senior year, decided he wanted to take Gina stargazing. He’d been wanting to do this with her for a long time, but had to wait for the perfect day to do it. He prepared earlier that day by packing a speaker and blankets for the both of them. 

“You didn’t bring any food?” she said as she approached Ricky at the park. He was mad at himself for forgetting, but luckily, his friend came prepared,

“Lucky for you, I brought your favorite snack,” she said as she pulled out a pack of gummy worms,

“You know me so well,” he said grabbing the gummy worms from her hands,

“At least you brought my favorite Bowen blanket,” Gina’s “favorite Bowen blanket” as she called it, was the one she wrapped herself in whenever she went over to his house. The blue blanket had tiny ducks that covered the surface,

“And I made you a playlist. We can play it on my speaker,”

“You know what’s crazy?”

“What?”

“I made you a playlist too. I was going to send it to you, but since you brought a speaker, we can play it tonight,” It wasn’t surprising that they made each other playlists— especially one that captured each other’s essence so perfectly. After all, they were the  _ best  _ friends.

After a game of rock, paper, scissors, it was decided Ricky would play his playlist for Gina first. When the first song played, she immediately got up and started dancing. No matter how many times he was forced to come to the dance studio with her, he was still in awe at how good she was; how  **passionate** she was,

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked snapping him out of his trance,

“You really are a ballerina, Gina,”

“Nice rhyme there,” she said sarcastically.

Minutes later, they were laying on the ground looking up at the stars. 

“And that one there, is big dipper,” she said pointing at the sky,

“Woah really?”

“I have no idea,” they both bursted out in laughter, for what was a dumb joke. In the duration of their friendship, they always laughed at each other’s jokes, no matter how stupid they might’ve been. Though in other moments, they’d sit together in comfortable silence. As they grew closer, they grew an understanding of each other that could reach beyond words. Sitting with her under the stars that night, brought him a sense of  **peace** he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

It became clear to Ricky that the lilac would be the perfect flower for Gina. The only challenge now was getting it.

**Rose**

**…**

**Love**

On the morning of Gina’s dance recital, Ricky went to the flower shop to find a lilac to give to her. He was already dressed, in his nicest shirt and freshly ironed pants, in hopes that right after purchasing the flower he could head to her recital early. 

He walked through the flower shop looking aisle by aisle to find the flower he’d driven over thirty minutes to find. In the fifth aisle, there it was, a single bouquet of lilac flowers sitting on the shelf in front of him. After hours of researching, he finally found the perfect flower for the perfect girl and it was all in his grasp,

“I’m sorry, these aren’t for sale,” the cashier said to him,

“What do you mean by not for sale?” he asked confused,

“Look at the sign,” he read the sign the cashier pointed at that read: “On hold, not for sale,”

“Please, these are for a very important person. I’ll pay you extra for them!” the cashier shook their head and rolled their eyes at his attempt at bribing. 

Ricky’s head began to spin. All the work he did researching, all the time he spent picking a flower that matched her, was all for nothing,

“There are some really nice roses over there that you could give to this really important person,” the cashier pointed over to the shelf full of roses. 

Ricky originally wanted to avoid roses. There was nothing inherently wrong with roses, but  _ everyone _ got them. He wanted the flower he got for Gina to be special and the rose didn’t seem to be good enough for her. Though with no other options, he purchased the roses anyway. 

Roses were most commonly known as a symbol for love. He thought him getting the flower for her wouldn’t be a complete misrepresentation of her. He did  **love** how she was good at everything she did; He  **loved** how she baked for him every week; He  **loved** how strong she was ; He  **loved** how they were always there for each other; He  **loved** the time they spent together; He  **loved** how they understood each other through unspoken words; He  **loved** her smile; He  **loved** her. Ricky realized though the rose may have been a simple flower that was a symbol for love, it was a testament to how simple it was to fall in  **love** with her. In a way, the rose was a perfect flower for Gina. 

After her performance, she ran up to him and gave him a hug,

“You did amazing, as expected,” after she pulled away from the hug, she noticed the roses in his hand,

“Are these for me?”

“Who else would they be for?” he said handing her the bouquet,

“Thank you so much Ricky!” she kissed him on the cheek,

“I love roses!” she smiled at him, with her signature bright, beautiful smile that he adored so much.

  
  
  


> **_He finally realized that he was in love with her and someday, he hoped to tell her._ **

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hi! thank you so much for reading this one! I have written one shots before, but never posted them on here. I might do some in the future, but we'll see. fun fact: I did dance for about a year (from seventh to eighth grade) although I could never compare myself to the talents miss wylie possess. anyways, I hope you enjoyed it :)


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